About fasting, about David, about the elders, about Goliath and against Navat

Blessed David sang these words of the psalm, prompting us to a general, and not any particular song: “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart, and proclaim all Your wonders” (Psalm 9:2). Such is the greatness of the spirit of blessed David: he fell into sin, but did not give in to despair! In fact, if he fell as a man, succumbing to temptation, then at the same time as a man he brought confession. “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart.” After all, if I do not confess to You, then I will not be freed from sin. “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart.” If I do not confess to You, I will not be white as snow. “I will praise [You], Lord.” After all, if I don’t confess to You, the devil will not stop pushing me into fornication and murder. “I will praise [You], Lord.” After all, if I do not confess to You, I will not regain my former honor. “I will praise [You], Lord.” After all, if I do not confess to You, I cannot be considered Your father according to the flesh. “I will praise [You], Lord,” because if I do not confess to You, the Holy Spirit will not reveal anything to me, and no one will know the fiftieth psalm. And it is quite fitting for each of those approaching holy baptism to repeat these words of blessed David. “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart.” After all, if I do not confess to You, then I will not put off the old man. “I will praise [You], Lord.” If I do not confess to You, I will not put on the new man. “I will praise [You], Lord.” If I do not confess to You, I will not be included in the flock of Your faithful. “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart.” I obeyed Your words about not being ashamed of confessing my sins. “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart.” After all, I heard you say: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:7). It is timely to remember now the words of Blessed Paul. What are these? “Now is the time favorable.” What time? Post decoration. What time? Dawn of poverty. What time? Cultivating repentance. “Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Ecclesiastes expresses the same thing in the following words: “a time to weep” about sin, and “a time to laugh” about salvation (Eccl. 3:4). Laugh, but do not mock: you need to distinguish between reckless laughter and useful laughter. And that I am not lying in asserting this, I can refer to the Divine Scripture itself. Listen to what wisdom says about someone who laughs recklessly: “By laughing, a fool does evil”; “For a fool, a criminal act is like a sport” (Proverbs 10:23); about the one who laughs wisely and profitably, this is what Job says: “He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with joyful exclamations” (Job 8:21). This means that Ecclesiastes said it well: “a time to weep and a time to laugh.” A time of mourning over sin, and a time of joy over righteousness, because “the Lord is righteous and loves righteousness” (Psalm 10:7). The time for the cessation of enmity, and the time for serving love, in fulfillment of the words of Blessed Paul: “Let not the sun go down on your wrath” (Eph. 4:26). The time for the eradication of wickedness and the time for the planting of piety. So it was precisely our Lord, in a revelation to the prophet Jeremiah about the thorn-covered land of Judea, who told him: “He has set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and destroy, to destroy and destroy, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10), - that is, so that he would eradicate polytheism and instill the veneration of the one God; “he destroyed and created”: he destroyed pagan temples and erected houses of prayer for martyrs. And what is said: “He has appointed you on this day,” then it is not any specific day that needs to be understood here, but any time in general, as Blessed Paul says: “When you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the time of murmuring” (Heb. 3:7-8), that is, whenever you hear the Lord preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2), do not harden your hearts like the so-called kafars (pure ones). But this was valid not only in the time of law and before baptism, but also after baptism - under grace. The Lord Christ taught this very thing to His disciples in other words: “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). And it was not just in words that the Lord taught His disciples this way, but in the very work of this - knitting and solving - He made them involved. Look, first of all, at blessed Peter, how he bound by death those who had agreed to lie among themselves - Ananias and Sapphira, and how, on the other hand, he immediately resolved the misfortune of the lame from birth, giving him legs. What will the Kafars, who in their impurity surpass the purer ones and all impurity, say to this? “No one is clean from filth even one day of his life on earth” (Job 14:4–5). What will so many say to this, filled with vanity, daring to speak with vain lips: “Can I go to such and such a presbyter and confess my sins to him, when he has sinned, perhaps, more than me? How can he, a sinful person like me, forgive me my sins?” This is how people who are mired in sins, but who do not know the limits of their arrogance, make excuses. But, a person who deceives himself with arrogant and false words and upsets God with his foolishness and exaltation: do you come to a person (with confession of sins), or do you receive remission of sins from a person? After all, you approach the Lord and King of all, God, who forgives you your sins through the priest. The priest here is only an intermediary, and does not act on his own. So, why do you condemn and humiliate someone whom God does not condemn? After all, he eats His honorable body and sacraments His most pure blood. While he is a priest, and God allows him to perform the priesthood, do not shy away from accepting the gift from him, because it is not he himself who gives you absolution, but the great High Priest Christ, who entrusted him with the priesthood. And that not only in times of grace, but also before grace, God arranged the salvation of people through people - for this, our Master became human, appearing as an intercessor for God and men - you can be convinced of this from the story of how blessed David, whose words - “I will praise [You], Lord, with all my heart" - were just quoted, having fallen into adultery and murder - the gravest of evils - remained not repentant, and what God did to attract him to repentance, and to give subsequent generations an example of repentance. Namely, God sends the prophet Nathan to him, and he allegorically depicts before the king what happened to him. The named prophet, coming to David, said: “King, I have something to tell you.” David answered: “Speak.” Then the prophet told the following parable: “Once upon a time there was a rich man who had large herds of cattle and sheep, and another man was poor and had only one lamb, which he fed from his table, watered from his cup and carried in his arms - by the rich man I mean David, and by the poor man I mean Uriah.” So what? “A guest came to a rich man,” he said. Which guest? A passionate desire that plunges us into punishment. “A guest came to a rich man, and he, feeling sorry for his sheep, sent to take the poor man’s sheep and slaughtered it for his guest.” Having heard this, King David, who, although he fell into sin, did not lose justice - after all, sin is a matter of the body, and virtue is a property of the soul - said with anger to this: “As the Lord lives!” the person who did this deserves death; and he must pay four times for the lamb” (2 Samuel 12:5–6). David's judgment is stricter than the requirements of the law: according to the law, the victim is rewarded fourfold, but he demands “sevenfold” (Ps. 79:12). And Nathan announces to him: “O king, “you are that man” (2 Samuel 12:7). And then David, having come to his senses and humbled himself, did not hide behind his royal dignity, did not use force against the accuser, although he could have done so; didn’t say: who are you that you dare to shame me in front of people? He firmly remembered that if he was a king on earth, it was because he had been appointed to the kingdom by the King of the highest powers. As soon as he heard the words of the prophet that “you are that man,” king, he immediately confessed his sin: “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). And Nathan said to David: “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die” (2 Samuel 12:13). Oh Nathan! What did you dare to say? After all, you are threatened with accusations from the arrogant Navat! David sinned before God, and repented before Him; How do you know whether he received forgiveness, and on what basis did you declare his sin taken away? Find out first, and then give absolution. This is what Nathan (could have answered): God entrusted me with all the responsibility for David’s correction. If He did not want to grant the sinner forgiveness of sin through me, then, of course, He would not have sent me to him. Who would reproach a doctor caring for a patient instead of thanking and rewarding him for his services? So, it is clearly proven that not only in times of grace, but also before grace, God granted people forgiveness of sins through people. To clarify what has been said, let’s take a clear example. Imagine, O man, an opponent of repentance, imagine some person who has been guilty of something, convicted and subject to exile or some other punishment: can he, sentenced to punishment, work for himself and beg his superiors to mitigate his fate? Isn’t he looking for an intercessor, the so-called domestic, and through him he is conducting the case and trying to overturn the court’s verdict and soften the severity of the authorities? If such an order and such a requirement have already been established in relation to corporal punishment, then in spiritual matters aren’t mediation and intercession much more necessary? And in this case, if you do not want to begin repentance simply because the priest is a sinful man, then you should not have been baptized, because the baptist is a man, and you should not have received communion, because the Lamb of God will be slain by a man. And if in these cases you believe, then take it on faith. Be careful that, by accepting one thing and rejecting another, you do not fall into condemnation. After all, it is the devil who confuses us, an insidious predator, it is he who wants to plunge us into Gehenna with the help of his many different tricks. The law says: “You shall not revile the ruler of your people” (Ex. 22:28). So, if the King of kings has appointed a priest over you, by what right do you reject him and humiliate him? To an earthly king who appoints someone as a leader, you will not go and tell him: he is not worthy of this rank. And if here you cannot prevent the king from elevating whomever he wants or whomever he chooses, then how dare you resist the Master’s command about the priest on the grounds that he is a sinner? Didn’t David the prophet fall into adultery and murder, as we were talking about now? Did not Peter, having denied his Teacher three times, fall into sin and renunciation? Didn't Paul persecute the Church of God like no one else? But the humane-loving Lord chose and glorified them, so that you would not humiliate or condemn anyone from the church authorities. The priest who performs baptism and makes a bloodless sacrifice participates in this matter with his own hands, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies and imparts power to his actions. So here, when you repent and confess your sins, the priest has nothing to do with it, only his tongue is needed, and God will grant you salvation and remission of sins. But if it is done in this way and if it is possible after baptism to receive salvation through repentance, then (you ask) why did the Apostle Peter immediately strike Ananias and Sapphira with death, and did not give them the opportunity to atone for their sin by repentance? Think carefully. It was not the Apostle Peter who hid the healing power of repentance from them, but they themselves, having fallen into such a grave sin, did not bother to heal themselves with repentance and, under the influence of the devil, destroyed themselves along with their money. Repentance is evidenced not by words, but by deeds. There is repentance from the depths of the soul, and there is only feigned repentance: that is why some are saved, while others are condemned. Both blessed Peter and unfortunate Judas both repented. But Peter, having sincerely repented, mourned and washed his renunciation with streams of tears, again regained his former dignity, and Judas made his repentance in passing. Although he threw his pieces of silver to the Jews and said: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4), he did not weep, did not shed tears, did not do anything worthy of repentance, but only prepared a noose for himself for the joy of the devil. Is Simon the Magus? Having been baptized, but succumbing to temptation and condemned by Peter for wanting to buy the unsellable gift of God with money, did he not resort to repentance? Didn’t blessed Peter tell him these words: “Repent therefore of this thy sin, and pray to God” (Acts 8:22)? Why, you say, did he not say this to Ananias and Sapphira: “So, repent of this thy sin”? Look closely. You cannot laugh at the grace of the Spirit. Meanwhile, Ananias and Sapphira, rebuked by Peter and hearing his words: “Why have you agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?” (Acts 5:9) - we did not confess our sin, we did not prostrate ourselves, we did not ask, we did not say that due to human weakness we sinned - but what? – Convicted by him, they contradicted his words, trying to deceive him and not understanding that one cannot laugh at the Holy Spirit. That is why blessed Peter, angry, immediately pronounced the sentence they deserved over them. As for Simon, having heard from the Apostle Peter: “Let your money perish with you, because you thought to receive the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:20) - he was not indignant at this, was not indignant, did not get angry, although he was a bad man, but, accepting the insult and insult as deserved, he humbly turned not only to Peter, but also to all the apostles with the request: “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing that you have said may befall me” (Acts 8:24). I, he says, have sinned gravely; I do not dare to beg God for myself; but you must intercede for me before Him. Yes, Ecclesiastes said well: “a time to weep and a time to laugh”: a time to weep for those who are incurably sick, and a time to rejoice for those who love repentance. The great Joseph wept as if prophetically imbued with the words of blessed David: “Those who sow with tears will reap with joy” (Psalm 125:5). So Joseph sowed tears of brotherly love - and reaped the crown of the kingdom. Remember firmly that Joseph, who met his brothers in such an amazing way, saw them and did not want to take revenge on them. In fact, what did these brothers deserve, who, as far as it depended on them, broke the twelve-link chain of brotherhood? However, Joseph did not think of oppressing them in retribution for their act, but, throwing himself on their necks, he began to cry. Why are we talking about the neck specifically, and not about any other part of the body? It was natural for him to cry on the necks of his brothers, who had once thrown off the yoke of brotherly love. Do you now recognize the meekness and piety of this man? But some people say about Joseph that he treated his brothers so meekly and peacefully under the pressure of necessity, since, thrown into a foreign country, he had no sympathy or help from anyone there. Whoever says this should pay attention to the fact that Joseph himself, by his own disposition, discovered such fatherly care... 1 memory of Joseph and the appearance of light. The Lord of Light, Christ, freed him from the darkness of prison. Why are you talking fuss, why are you telling lies, O man who claims that Joseph was of necessity meek and unforgiving? After all, even before the advent of the law, Joseph was so God-loving, so observant of the law, that even when he was seduced by his mistress, he abhorred fornication. Was there then a law given that commanded: “Thou shalt not commit adultery. Don't steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor"? Was it not himself, serving as a law for himself and guided only by natural instinct, that he ran away from her naked, so as not to desecrate his master’s bed? Didn’t his mistress make shameless proposals to him, didn’t she promise to give him freedom and make him lord over all her property, if only he succumbed to her convictions? Didn’t he evade her shamelessness the more the more she pestered him, having made himself an eunuch - according to the word of the Lord - not by the sword, but by faith? Didn’t the righteous man convince her with these words: Oh, lady! “Behold, my master does not know anything in the house with me, and everything that he has has given into my hands; I am no longer in this house; and he forbade me nothing except you, because you are his wife; How can I do this great evil and sin before God?” (Gen.39:8-9). Is not the God of my fathers here? Is there one God in Canaan and another in Egypt, although it is unknown to you? Is there not a higher power from which the injustice committed against one’s neighbor will not be hidden? Is it possible that if your husband is absent, then my God has left here with him? Your husband, woman, being my master, has entrusted all his property into my hands, and I will steal his rib? (God) combined one and one, and not one - many, not many to one. Calm down, lady; I know who turns you on against me. It is not you who are fighting against me, but the devil, who has armed my brothers against me. He has already separated me from my father, and now he wants to separate me from God. He comes at me from all sides to prevent us. Calm down: it is better to be an adulterer in name than in reality. If I disobey you, my body will suffer; and if I disobey God, then I will suffer punishment both in body and soul. He knew the One who said: “Fear Him more than He who is able to destroy both soul and body” (Matthew 10:28). The above gives a sufficient understanding of the meekness and gentleness of the chaste Joseph. Listen to what happened to him next. You know well, of course, that due to the slander of an Egyptian woman he was imprisoned, but by the arrangement of God’s Providence he reigned over Egypt. And so, when his dreams, or better yet, revelations, had already completely come true, meanwhile his brothers were brought to Egypt by the lack of bread, Joseph, seeing them, despite his high position and power over all of Egypt, did not draw a sword, did not imprison them, did not starve them, did not subject them to beatings - did not treat them as animals who had not shown him mercy, did not remember them being torn to pieces a tunic, no deep well, no burden of slavery, no blinding by envy, no darkening by brother-hatred, no grave paternal grief, no separation from his half-brother Benjamin, but having consigned all griefs to oblivion and dissolved the threat with meekness, he sought an opportunity to reveal himself to his brothers. As soon as he saw them and among them his half-brother Benjamin, gentle, unspoiled, the last offspring of his father’s root, uninvolved in brother-hatred, a brother both in blood and in spirit, immediately watering his face with tears of joy, he loudly exclaimed: “I am Joseph, your brother... God sent me before you to preserve your life” (Gen. 45:4, 5). Oh, what a wonderful thing! The innocent is justified, just as the guilty are. I am Joseph, my brothers! If you did not bow to me against your will, then my dreams are false; if my sheaf does not stand straight, it means that you have well honed the sickle of brother-hatred. Make sure from here, brothers, that “whoever trusts in the Lord is not put to shame” (Rom. 9:33). You have stripped me of my simple clothing, and now I am clothed in purple; you threw me into a well, and now I ride around in a chariot bound in gold; you sold me into captivity, and now I am almost a king; I was imprisoned, and now I am in the royal palace; I have endured chains, and now I am wearing a crown of precious stones. Truly, it is timely to exclaim with blessed Paul: “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28), in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith”